12.09.2011

Yup I'm repurposing more jewelry... I've been wearing my heart choker a ton these days and getting a bunch of compliments. Love that I took some icky earrings and made a beautiful choker. So exciting! And now I find myself wanting to create my own pieces instead of buying them. Or repurposing items to make my own jewelry pieces.

Jewelry project #1 is for an open grey cardigan that I like a lot. I thought a swanky broach would be great for it. I didn't want to make holes and add buttons - definitely would have ruined it. So was really into finding a broach to use as a way to close the top of the open cardigan. I haven't been able to find anything too lovely that was reasonable.

Today I dropped by Button Button to check out button options. I thought I could glue a bar pin to the back and convert the button into a broach. Easy peasy and probably a pretty reasonable creation.

Now Button Button is a small store with TONS of stuff... Very overwhelming to be honest.

I wanted a silver button, pretty big and elegant... Something I knew would fit with my other jewelry and that I wouldn't get tired of.

This is what I ended up buying for $7.75. I have this 'thing' for decorative designs... Kind of girlie. It's a pewter antique button reproduction. You find the darndest things in Button Button!

I'll glue the bar pin to the back then should be good to go! I would imagine my broach will cost under $10. It'll definitely work for the time being. Maybe I'll find something in a thrift store that's better. We'll see!

After Button Button, I hit Collective Stone again. Unfortunately I dismantled the bracelet I repurposed before getting a photo of it! Bad DIY-er... Gesh! Hopefully you can get an idea of what the bracelet looked like below. I bought this bracelet from the Salvation Army for $2.50. Bracelets annoy me for some reason. I tried wearing this piece since it was pretty but I couldn't do it. I decided to repurpose it into a necklace of some sort!

I worked with Dominique this time. We looked at chains, brainstormed on ideas and then took apart my bracelet. This is the chain I decided to go with.

Here it is... It went through a few variations. I find you go from complicated (basically adding EVERYTHING) and then you remove items to make it simple and clean.

I used 2 of the 4 pieces then added a drop stone to it. I thought this would give it some weight and colour... The necklace needed something to jazz it up! I was going to try to use the bracelet's end pieces for the clasp in the back but they didn't work so we went with the below clasp. I can always use the remaining pieces for another jewelry project.

The necklace cost me under $20 in total - $2.50 for the bracelet then $15 for the supplies from Collective Stone.

Recent Finds

This weekend I hope to work on my cabinet. I found this Pyrex dish to go with my collection. Maybe one of the pieces I'll 'feature' in my finished cabinet. I love turquoise... And birds... And flowers. So sweet and it was $5.99. Great find indeed!

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Denise Corcoran (aka Thrifty By Design) is a local author, crafter, upcycler and workshop facilitator based in North Vancouver, BC. Her passion is to turn 'junk' into new and funky pieces. She shares her enthusiasm for crafting and upcycling by facilitating 'Crafternoons' throughout Vancouver.